Table 15
- MEPS
Medical Utilization and Expenditures of the Uninsured: Workers
Calendar Year 2003 - Uninsured Point in Time

Characteristic

Population
(Millions)

Distribution
of Population

Uninsured
(Millions)

Distribution
of Uninsured

Percent
Uninsured by Category

TOTAL POPULATION

117.3

100.0%

20.3

100.0%

17.3%

TOTAL HEALTH CARE
SPENDING

None

18.4

15.7%

8.1

39.9%

43.9%

$1-100

6.9

5.8%

1.9

9.5%

28.0%

$100-250

11.1

9.5%

2.1

10.2%

18.6%

$250-500

13.2

11.3%

2.0

9.9%

15.1%

$500-1000

17.3

14.7%

2.4

11.9%

14.0%

$1000-2500

22.7

19.4%

1.9

9.5%

8.4%

$2,500-$5,000

14.1

12.0%

1.0

4.9%

7.0%

More than $5,000

13.7

11.7%

0.9

4.3%

6.4%

SELF/OUT OF POCKET
SPENDING

None

22.9

19.5%

8.7

43.2%

38.2%

$1-100

22.2

18.9%

3.2

15.6%

14.2%

$100-250

19.5

16.6%

2.2

11.0%

11.5%

$250-500

18.4

15.7%

2.2

10.7%

11.8%

$500-1000

17.8

15.2%

1.9

9.3%

10.6%

$1000-2500

12.8

11.0%

1.5

7.2%

11.3%

More than $2500

3.7

3.2%

0.6

3.0%

16.6%

HOSPITAL SPENDING*

None

110.9

94.5%

19.5

96.4%

17.6%

$1-2,500

1.2

1.0%

0.3

1.3%

22.9%

$2,500-5,000

1.6

1.4%

0.2

0.8%

10.3%

$5,000-10,000

1.7

1.5%

0.2

0.9%

10.4%

$10,000-50,000

1.7

1.5%

0.1

0.5%

5.8%

AMBULATORY
VISITS

None

33.9

28.9%

11.3

55.8%

33.3%

1-2

30.9

26.3%

4.5

22.0%

14.4%

3-5

22.1

18.9%

2.1

10.3%

9.4%

6 or
more

30.4

25.9%

2.4

12.0%

8.0%

ER/ED
VISITS

None

103.1

87.9%

17.6

86.7%

17.0%

1

11.7

10.0%

2.2

11.0%

19.0%

2
or more

2.5

2.1%

0.5

2.4%

19.5%

HOSPITAL
DISCHARGES

None

110.8

94.5%

19.4

95.9%

17.5%

1

5.6

4.8%

0.8

3.8%

13.7%

2 or
more

0.9

0.8%

0.1

0.3%

6.3%

* Annual
hospital expenditures are
below $50,000 for virtually
all (99.8 percent or more)
of the total population
and the population of uninsured
persons.

These estimates are based on ERIU tabulations of 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data collected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The MEPS employs an overlapping panel design and collects data on two calendar years for each respondent. The tabulations reported here are based on responses to interview Rounds
3, 4, and 5 of Panel 7 and
Rounds 1, 2, and 3 of Panel
8, which cover calendar year 2003 for both panels. Coverage status is obtained at the initial interview. At each subsequent interview, respondents are asked about whether their coverage has changed since the last interview and, if so, how and when. Respondents report whether they were covered by any public or private source of health insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, TRICARE/CHAMPUS, other public coverage, employment-based private, other private health insurance). Respondents are considered uninsured if they respond “no” to all of the coverage options; they are not asked directly if they are uninsured. A person may gain or lose coverage during a year and these data permit estimates of the number lacking coverage at a particular point in time, at some time during the year, and throughout the entire year. We label those who are without health insurance for the entire year as “all-year uninsured,” and those without health insurance for at least one month and up to twelve months as “ever uninsured.” The “point-in-time uninsured” estimates include those without coverage in the first round of the calendar year (Round 3 for those who entered the survey in 2002 and Round 1 for those who
entered the survey in 2003).